Photoj



W. P. M. DANA.

LINE FASTENER.

No. 74,203. Patented Feb. 11, 1868.

Invezzoz' @einen titties` sfmf ffim,

Letters Patent No. 74,203, datd Februarg/.11, 1868.

-menovenenr 1N -LINE-FASTENBBS.

"Sttrttltrzfetnt'tq is ilgmretters what are Anothing part mi it: snm.

TO WHOM I'I" MAY CONCERN B e-it known thnt'I, W. W. DANA, of Newport, in the county of Newport, and State of Rhode Island, have. invented certain rie-wand useful Improvements in lLinefFasteners; and I hereby declare, the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference heinghnd to the accompanying drawings.

.The object I have in viewin this invention is to produce e. device for festening lines, ropesor cheinsof any description securely and readily-one which may' be used in all instances whore it'is Vrequired to secure a ling-whether o clothes-line, or thejhnlter of a horse, or any rnpensed on vessels. Y

The principle involved' in the construction and operation of .theI deviceie entirely new, so for as I om informed, in its applicationto. line-fasteners, and is one'which` admits of the fastener beingV made simply end` l economically, nt'the snme timethat itoperates under all circnmstsnc'es moreeiectully than other self-noting" l fasteners. i l i i ,The invention can best he explained by reference to Figure l of the accompanying drawings, which'represente an'ielcvation of a simple form of the fasteners.' Y i Thyedevice is composed of theerms A, pivoted at one end,I a, lto the wall, or beam, or post, or other'psrt'to i which isis required to attach the fastener. i To this arm, A, is pivoted or hinged a. second erm ornipper, B, at the point b. TheV two partsof which thefaetener is composed thus move upon di'erent centres, the erm A swinging upon the pivot a, the nipper B, while psrtsking of the movement of the arm A, moving also u'pona` centre, b, nfits'mvn. Uponthefend ofthe arnror nipper B, there is a hook,"d, or other suitable holding-device, for-'receiving the rope or chsinC to be secured. This hook or rope-receiving device extends over the erm A, i so that when the Anippel B is turned downtowards the 'si-m, the hook will catch or rest-upon the top of scidurm. The rope to beheld is' passed over that end of the hook which is fnrthest'from the point where the fest end of i vthe rope isatteched, and is then drawn down under the hook. In order :to tighteothe rope, it is drawn by the i endo', inthedirection indicated by the arrow. When this end of the rope is released, the strain of therope l npo'n the fastener- `aflll'oce the nipper B tightly down upon the arm A, the rope being grasped and heldbetween i the'armand the end of the hook c. This grasping laction of the fastener results from thsmovcment of thenxms` i A andB upon'their respective pivots or centres of motion a Vb.. The action of the rope upon the arms Vis to i "dran-them, 'so that they shall both lie in the prolongation oiV the lino of the rope, or, in other words, to reduce the broken linea: z to u straight line, which shell lie in the same direction as the line m n of the rope. The i'reee'nds ofV the erm A B hre' thus forced toward each other, and the rope, 4which passes nnderthe endof the hook-armiB, is consequently graspod end held .tightly between them. -Thenrm VA. is plivotod, 'so as to admit of the faisteneradjnsting itseli` to the direction of the rope; for instenee, if the rope C hed s. more vertical position then that shoivn, thel arm A, swinging upon its pivot, would adjnst itself to this change of position. It is theres 4fore'evident that if the rope runs at a certain determinate angle when stretched, the srm-Alcousequeutly occu pying but one positiornthe erm need ne longer he capable of vibrating, but it may be secured `in proper position, .sofas to be immovable. For instance, if the rope C'run et lltimes in thedirection shown iniig. 1, the erm. A ,maybe fastened inmoveblyin the position shown in the same ligure, for. after the angle at which the :ix-m must stand Vwith'respect-to the rope, in'order to assure the gripingaction of the* nippel' B, is ascertained, it is not lnecessary thatthe arm should becapsble of vibrating, hut it may, as above stated, be fastened eend held at such angle. The fatstener,`nhen Working on the two centres a b, operates as s. lever offthe third order,the power being applied between the fulcrum and the. weight. 1-The pivotal point a represents the ful'eruin, the degree of force required to hoidthe' rope between the hook and the arm et k, the weight or resistance, and the .strain o1* dran'ingmction of the tant rope at b, the power. It is therefore evident that the distance between the fulcrum point e andfthe pivotal' point, where the power is applied, must be increased or lessened, in. proportion to the in c'rsnseor decrease in the distonce` between'the points b and It, so that suliicieut power may 'at all times beohteiucd l'to induce thc griping action oi' the nipper B.l Y

' From the above it will beperceive'dl that nnderpmy invention the arm A moy, according t'o oirciiinstrincee,y be eecn'red either immovehly, or'so as to be capable of a vibrating movement, et the sameitime being srr'nngediu` all instances to stand at such an angie with' respect to thestretched rope that the end of the letter shell beheld tightly between the griper or nipper B end the arm A.

I have described, in illustra-tion of theinvention, a.sir nple liorhni ofthe fastener, which may be subjected to numerous modifications, without departing from"the.princi'plejinvolved in'-Reconstruction and'operation In Iig. 1, the hook orgriperBis made doubleLone/ hook extendingout en cach side Aoi' the arm, from 'the common pivot b. The arm Ais recessed .ongone side', as shown in the "rear view ofthe device, iig. 2, so as to `allen free play to the griper pivoted in such recess, without interferingivith the, swinging increment ofy the-part Aand a spiral spring, d,'fas tened at" one end to thearm A,-i's attached at about midway between theme-hooks' c to the griper .I Lthe object 'ofvthis latterarran'geme'nt being. to prey'cnt the griper from moring unnecessarily 'when not in use, and to hold the hooks in suchpositon that the rope may bev passedfn'ndereither :gf-them niA outldiiiiculty. A fastener of this construction is'of special u seon a vessel 'toseoure the sheet, whetheron sturbo'ardkor larboard tack, the fastener, 'for this pixrposc,4 being secured by n sn'ivel-joint, or votherwise suitably mounted in the Astern of the vessel. In order to' release the'ropc C, a handle -orv'knob'hfg is secured to the free.

end of -tlie arm A! pulling onthis handle, sol as 'todrai'vjdow'n thevarm' A, the latter will be'separated far enough from the griper toallow the repete-he castfo, er slaekened to any degree desired." Theformati'on o f the'hook 6 admits of tl1`e rc i"pe .beingfreimwd from the fastener readily "andwitlxontdiculty In I4fig. 3- a 'modie'diform `ot` the fastener is-sho'wu.I '.lhe'arnifI A in this case is. 'curved, the 'bar o r pieceof {yhich the griper B,v is formed, lis extended beyond thapoint b, so as to form a handle,rf', which vils-,used for the samepurpose as indicated inthe ca seofths handlefabove referred to. l I l v Figure 4 repli-eselnts-v'.Vl fastener, applied-in conne'ctionvwith a pulley, DQ It is hung upon a' pivot, a, suitable positiony between the'sides'oftbe' pulley-block. A The l'endo'f the Vrop'ewhieh is to lhe held by the fasterer is passed under thehookofothe gripeiy'and in order to draw the rop'e'taut is pulled in the direction of the' arrow.- As soon as 4therope is s'tretched,'it will, as indi# cated-in the drawings, causethe g'iper and armto hold it rmly between? them. The piece ivhen, the rope is to be released or slackened,- can be pulled down by thehandlefsoas t'oloos'en tlieflua'll-of` the fastener upon the, rope,A A. spring, df, is applied tothe rear-'f :the piece A', as .indicated in"'the gure, to hold it in. proper: position Theseare but few of the modifications' whichma'y be insd'ein theeonstruction of the fastener, but they are suient to, illustrate the principle. of' the invention, vand thelcombi'nedactin of the arm.' A andl gripen.y `The la'tter, instead ofl having ahook, snclras shownlin -the drawing, may have jany othervformiadapted to hold the rope; as, for instance, the 'griper maybe formed' of sloop of metal, 'straddlin'g -tlxel 'arm Afa roller or pulley hei-ng mounted between 'thersi'desof the l qo'p,' 'or Ithehook b'may be replaced aknob, any device suitable for 'hold-ing and gripng therope'being adapted to I ny'rprnpose.4 l

Thefastener may be made-f anyesuitable'- material, and its sizevand'dimensionsf'as well-as the strength of its material will 'of cour'seibe detemined'b'y th'e particular use foxtwlhich it is designed.

` Having new described mynvention', and the manner in which the same'iis or may be carried into e'ect, what'lfclaim, and desire to secure ily-Letters Patent, `is-4 4 1. A lnefnstener,-.in 'which the gzrigin'g-hook, or its'qnivalent, is combined. Awith' a vibratoryarm, to which Vi'tjs pivotedlfor hinged, substantially as described, so that"the strain ofj vthe tightened rop'e which lpassesunder the hook, shall force together the said hook andf-'vibratory arm, and cause the rope t. o'.be griped and held between them, s set-forth. j

2. Inl combination ivitlren arm or bar-capable offavvibratory motion, as setfforth, I claim ,thedoublehook or griper-,-with or without the spring by which said hook is held in position, substantially as herein shown and described. 4

8. -Theline-fastener herein described, infcoinbination with apulley and pulley-block, under the arrangement and for operation es set forth.. A t. l l

In testimony whereof, I have signedl my name to this specification before'tvto subscribingwitnesses.

Y l `W. vI. W.- DANA.

Witnesses:

Sam.. W. FnANc1s, Dammi C'. Para'. 

